Let's say I have a space with obstacles and I'm trying to control a robot's movement while avoiding obstacles. I also have a start state and a goal state. I use a search algorithm to find the shortest path from the start state to the goal state (actually I really don't care if the path is optimal or not at this stage, I just have a path and I want to follow it).
So the path is actually an array of actions, [up, up, left, ...]. I was wondering how should I convert this array of actions to a real path to be tracked by a robot?
Should it be just an array of waypoints? Or I could generate a smooth path from this array of actions?
The path is an array of actions that you could use and get an array of points in the working space. How should one convert these points into a path which is a function of time i.e. convert the result of a search algorithm into a control problem such that I have a desired path and now I have to design a controller for the robot to follow that path.
The way I've implemented the search algorithm I'm getting a series of up/left/... commands as the output. It's easy to convert this array of commands to a set of points but I'm not sure on how to convert this set of points to a path. Once I have a path it's relatively easy to design a controller for a robot to follow it. Right now I'm just looking for methods on how to convert this points to a path. I've found a report with extensive details on how to use splines and generate a path. But it would be great if I could find other methods and compare them.
Just as an example of what I'm looking for, if I have:
x(t) = sin(2t);
y(t) = cos(6t);
I have to design a controller for the robot to follow this path:
Now, my question is what methods there are to generate such paths which also take into account the constraints on movement of the robot. I hope the question is more clear now.
I've found a great report on how to convert a set of points to a smooth path using splines but I would appreciate if someone could give some information on other available methods.